Difficulty picking up the offense continues to plague Josh Freeman

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 31, 2014, 7:01 AM EDT

AP

Josh Freeman was released on Friday after just six weeks with the Giants, and his biggest problem in New York this offseason appears to be the same as his biggest problem in Minnesota last season: He struggles to learn the offense.

In fairness to Freeman, the Vikings threw him into the starting lineup less than two weeks after he arrived, while the Giants gave him less than two months of the offseason. He has not had much time to learn the offense in either of his last two stops. And Freeman is only 26 years old, and showed promise in Tampa Bay, topping 4,000 yards in 2012 and throwing 25 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2010. He has the tools to be a good quarterback.

But it will take some work for Freeman to get there, and after washing out in two different stops, there is now a real question whether any team will give him another shot.

A lack of work ethic will never overcome talent. Guys come out every year that have talent and my Jags saw that a couple of years ago with Gabbert. What separates these guys in the NFL is the guys willing to put in the time to study and work hard vs the guys that have been entitled and never earned the job. It took 3 years 2 GM’s and numerous HC’s to finally get rid of Gabbert because they kept thinking his talent would override his lack of perpetration and work ethic.

Yes Freeman has talent so do many QB’s that come out every year like Locker, Ponder, Gabbert, Sanchez etc. But how many of these guys are leaders? How many spend the hours watching tape? I bet very few.

His wonderlic score (27) was higher than the average of starting NFL QB’s so its not a lack of intelligence. But I have never considered Josh to be a ‘first in, last out’ type. Perhaps a bit more time in the film room would serve him well.

commonsensedude says:May 31, 2014 7:21 AM

Watching that horrible Monday night game in which he started with the Vikings was among the worst football performances I’ve ever seen in my life. It was like watching a deer in the headlights of a freight train just before the train got crashed into by an airplane. It left such a lasting negative impression with many people about him as a player that he’s going to have to win a Super Bowl in order to completely erase it.

This kid has to learn that if he wants to be an NFL player beyond this summer, he needs to work harder than anybody else. They don’t just hand out quarterback contracts to people because they have talent. You have to be able to lead and in order to lead, you have to work harder than anybody else.

Being healthy and getting cut before OTAs are done in favor of third string QBs is a huge strike on his record. I was thinking Freeman may have a “who cares” attitude going into NY. After all, he went from the hardest working player in Tampa Bay in 2012 with great promise…to being absent from his football camp, team photo, late for meetings, etc. The Bucs chose to lose $6M a cut him rather than bench him and keep him. I read when Freeman was picked up by the Vikes ($2M more) he commented “they got a guy” (Ponder) and he was going to “tap the brakes” for while. This isn’t blame Schiano or Frazier anymore. Coughlin and the Giants didn’t even want him holding Eli’s clipboard. Wow! Hope Free sorts it out.

djcologne says:May 31, 2014 7:41 AM

Nice house, nobody is home.

eagleswin says:May 31, 2014 7:42 AM

I think some QB needy team should take him as a backup this season. Give him an entire season before washing him out. Raiders for instance. Maybe even the Chiefs who have no real need for him this year but if his main issue is slow learning of the playbook could be ready for 2015 if needed.

I don’t think you can use that excuse (doesn’t know the offense) for his QB with the Vikings. Anybody who watched the Vikings play more than one game already knows the offense; hand off to Peterson to the left, hand off to Peterson to the right, throw an incompletion in the dirt on third down and then punt. Repeat when you get the ball back.

There shouldn’t be any more sentences that begin with ‘In fairness to Freeman’. None. This man torpedoed the Bucs last season, had his agent leak personal information to secure his release (don’t expect any updates on that investigation anytime soon), stole money from two different teams and let’s not even address the rumors as to how he went from a promising franchise QB who has all the physical tools to a nobody who was cut in favor of Curtis Painter. What a disgrace.

He’s still the best option for that horrid team in Minnesota. My guess is that they’ll bring him back and pay him $3M for 3 hours of work again this season.

#skol

Sadly
Keeping
0
Lombardi’s

bassplucker says:May 31, 2014 8:14 AM

What happened to this guy? It’s like he doesn’t want to play anymore. Whatever happened down there in Tampa must have messed him up good. Seems like a decent person and the talent is there but he needs to get his mind right and frankly I think he’s about out of chances… at least in this league.

When he was drafted in the first round, I thought to myself “have these guys watched his tape from Kansas St.?” Prototypical size, good arm and just plain average at QB. Missed receivers, poor reads, you name it. Instead of watching him at the combine, put on the tape from games and take a closer look. It’ll save the embarrassment that comes a couple of years later when everyone knows you wasted a high draft pick.

Wonderlic doesn’t really paint the most accurate picture of someone’s overall intelligence. Bottomline is this guy doesn’t want to work. He did top 4k passing yards, but those of us who went to every game, we know it was because were always down and had to throw the whole game. Freeman made terrible reads on the regular, from his lack of football intelligence and preparation. He was handed the keys in Tampa and maxed out his potential, he’ll never start again and it’s his fault.

Wasn’t that the Monday night game when the giants defense was pounding there chest saying they were back because AP couldn’t run against them?i wonder why! When you put 11 guys in the box naturally you won’t be able to run!And who was the quarterback that night?

Oh well…good luck to him. I was actually looking forward to seeing him preform in preseason after his last outing on Monday night. To me this says more about his character than his intelligence. Obviously you have to have above average intelligence to be a starting QB in the NFL for multiple years. But a true competitor would have been so embarrassed by being cut then playing badly in Minnesota…he would be so prepared for his next opportunity it would be strikingly obvious.

That’s what the good/great ones do.

Good luck in Oakland dude.

theandy59 says:May 31, 2014 9:05 AM

It doesn’t seem like Freeman has a passion for the game. Very hard to compete in the NFL without that, regardless of talent level.

He’ll be out of the league before the investigation on him and his agent leaking the info gets released. Not that it ever will but that’s the point of course.

And in hindsight, how dumb was that decision? If he rides the pine all last year and becomes a FA this offseason, maybe he does a lot better. For his sake he’d be wise to go to the CFL and learn how to be a QB first. Talent is nothing without the work ethic and smarts to back it up.

Not to make excuses for his behavior but I know for myself I learn far better visually seeing what I am being told to learn rather than having data being shoved down my throat with nothing to relate it to visually. And I can turn off anything thereafter that doesn’t.

Reportedly, down here in the Tampa area, it appeared that Freeman is not one who can learn from x’s and o’s only. He needs visual input. He was repeatedly shown after-play pictures of the offense/defensive line-ups during games by former Offensive Coordinator Greg Olsen. This was down on the field where you usually don’t expect an OC. When Freeman was traded Olsen was relocated back up to the booth where a normal OC should be. So we know Tampa made adjustments for Freeman that maybe other organizations would not.

Some folks say go to the CFL. Why? He can go to Wal-Mart for pete sakes, but if he doesn’t want to work, it won’t matter. He’s been a successful starter, team captain, pro-bowl, top 10 QB (2010). He knows how to play. He had it all it’s all gone downhill. That’s ALL on Josh, and no one else. If he doesn’t want to work at it, he’s done.

“In fairness to Freeman, the Vikings threw him into the starting lineup less than two weeks after he arrived”
That statement doesn’t apply at all to this discussion. He was put in a game to see what he could do, the offense was simplified to the extreme to give him a chance, and he was pathetic.
What this latest info is telling us is that he is not someone who picks things up quickly, is not someone willing to work hard to compensate, and he is someone who has decided that the lazy approach is OK as long as you have athletic ability.
Wrong!

I think his best chance for success at this point is the Raiders. In 2010 when he put up his best numbers, Chris Olson was his offensive coordinator. He obviously could grasp that offense. Now Olson is the OC for Oakland. Freeman’s agent should be on the phone with Oakland’s GM.

there is no room in freemans head for learning a playbook his mind is already filled with thoughts of how he got 5 mil from minnesota last year!! on a more serious note it appears he is just not that dedicated to the game when he runs out of money my guess is he will be like vince young ready to promise anything for a chance to get more money not just a chance to play!!

bassplucker says:May 31, 2014 12:20 PM

Josh Freeman is starting to look a lot like J’Marcus Russell only without the weight problem.

I always laugh when people here say he needs to go to the cfl. If he can’t pick up an 11 man offense with only one man in motion at a time he will never make it in the 12 man game with everyone in motion. Big field extra guy on D, many guys fail thinking it’s a cake walk up here.

Don’t you think the teams involved know how long Freeman was there when they made their determinations that he couldn’t pick up their offenses? And that they were making their judgements based upon where a typical player should be at that point in their development?

stellarperformance says:May 31, 2014 1:56 PM

You know it’s bad if a QB like Bridgewater has to use both hands to throw an overhead spiral and Freeman can’t make a team. The Vikings prefer a grown man with childlike hands over another with NFL experience. It must be bad.

A high Wonderlic score doesn’t mean that he has the ability to read the Defense and make the correct calls. Any university professor could get a high Wonderlic, but they wouldn’t be capable of playing QB in the NFL.
Dan Marino got a low Wonderlic but he could read the Defense and make adjustments.
Josh Freeman has a good arm and a high Wonderlic, but he is no Dan Marino.
Josh is now looking for his 4th team in a year – I’d say he is now on borrowed time.

Let’s not overlook the fact that he was pulled in PRACTICE because they had enough when he couldn’t get the offense lined up right. It’s not liked the defense rolled from cover 2 to cover 3 and he made a slow read. I just don’t think he cares.

He was known to be a major partier during his time in Tampa. He missed the team picture during his last season in Tampa. Was late…or did not show at all, there are conflicting reports, for his own football camp for kids where teammates had to cover for him.
I find it extremely hard to believe that someone that wants to….with football being his number one priority… can’t learn a playbook in 2 months.

2010 is now four years ago, and this is a “what have you done for me lately” league. The fact that Tampa is now trying to do it with inaccurate McCown and big receivers tells you something – even the new leadership there does not want him back. He always was regarded as physically talented coming out of KC. Problem is, that is only half of the equation. He may not be dumb, but his lack of work ethic at each stop shows (if the reports are true) that he has lost the will to fight to learn and win a job. If that is the case, he is done in the NFL and will never see the light of day every again.